Category Archives: WordPress

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WordPress offers an array of “Widgets’” hat can be placed in sidebars to show a wide variety of material. The “Links” widget is one of those and shows links to other blogs and sites. This is one widget that is not too easy to use as a number of steps are required to set it up the way you like.

Your blog already has a number of links in a category called “Blogroll” that were set up along with your blog. You can modify this group, but it is easier to add a new “Link Category”. You need to add the links you want, and finally you need to place the Links Widget into the sidebar. Lets take these up in order.

Set up a Link Category

On the WordPress Dashboard, in the navigation pane on the left, find Links. If it is not expanded click it so the tabs “All Links”, “Add New”, and “Link Categories” show. Click Link Categories to display the Link Categories page.

In the Name field enter the title you wish to show above the link list in the sidebar. You can enter a description to explain the list in more detail. Then click the button below the fields, “Add New Link Catergory”.

This will add the category to the listing on the right.

Add new links

Click the Add New tab to bring up the Add New Link page. Fill in the spaces with the name of the blog or site, the full URL, that includes the “http://” part, and some description of the link.

In the Categories field click the category that you set up earlier.

Be sure to click the Add Link button.

You will see a message “Link added.”

Continue adding the other links that you wish to show in the same way until you have entered them all.

You can go back to make correction and changes at any time. Click the All Links tab, then move the pointer to the link name. The Edit and Delete links will show up as you hover there.

Just click Edit to bring up the Edit Link page which looks just like the Add New Link page. You can make all the needed changes.

Of course you can go back at any time to add additional links or to remove some from your list.

With the list of links completed, the final step is to add the widget to the sidebar.

Add the Links Widget to the sidebar

Under Appearance in the navigation bar find the Widgets tab – you may have to expand the group. Click the Widgets tab.

In the main widget area find the Links bar and drag it to the sidebar. You can position it up or down in the sidebar by just dragging it like any other widget.

Click the down arrowhead to show the options. The default category will be Blogroll, click the down arrow and click your category.

You can check the other options. You can also define how many links to show.

Thne click the Save button and the widget will be shown on your blog.

Note: If you had your blog open in another browser window, you may have to click the refresh link to see the latest changes.

You clicked Show Link Image and there is no image with the listing there? That another good question and calls for its own answer. It is covered in another post:

Yes, you can define the publication date and time of a blog post. It is very easy to do right in Windows Live Writer.

Compose your post, proofread it as usual, set the category and tags, just as you would normally. But before you click the Publish button, find the publication schedule box towards the right, just above the post entry pane.

Click on the down arrow or the little calendar icon.

A calendar is shown on the drop-down menu. You can step through the months with the right and left arrows. Just click on the date on which the post is to be published.

There is more, of course. You can also specify the exact time of publication. Click on the hour or minute. The current value will be highlighted, selected, just as in normal text editing. Type in the new time.

For AM or PM just click on the present setting and use the up or down arrow key to change from morning to afternoon.

Then go ahead and click the Publish button on the Home tab of the Ribbon. The post is uploaded to your blog but publication is held.

Can you change your mind about the publication date and time? Sure. If yours is a WordPress blog, sign in to your Dashboard. Click the Posts tab on the left and again in the the expanded menu.

Your posts, including those for which you have delayed publication, will be listed. on the right side you can see the publication status, like this:

To change the publication date or time, click the Edit option underneath your post title, move the pointer over that area to see the options. On the right side the Publish panel displays the status and provides edit options.

Here you can change the various parameters including date and time of publication. Note that the WordPress time uses the 24-hour clock format. The time zone is specified in General Settings.

For other blogging services the procedure is similar.

For example for Blogger, click Edit Posts on your Dashboard. Click Edit in front of the post of interest. Click Post Options at the bottom of the edit window and you can set or change the publication date and time.

Now all you have to do is to get all your posts ready and scheduled and you can be off to your vacation, knowing that your blogging service will publish your posts on schedule and keep your audience happy and informed.

That little bit of advertising at the top of your blog is called the “Tagline” by WordPress. It is the default text on a new blog site so you can see where the tagline, or slogan, will be located and how it will appear.

Different themes show it in different places and different fonts. Some themes do not show the tagline at all.

Many bloggers have not replaced that line, although it is very easy to do.

Log in to your WordPress Dashboard. On the left, find the Settings tab. Click it if the submenu is not already expanded. Click General.

The General Settings page shows the blog title right at the top and just below it the “Tagline”.

The Site Title can be changed at any time, and so can the Tagline. The instructions say “In a few words, explain what this site is about.” The small text entry box might cause you to think that your slogan has to be very short and succinct. A pithy and precise tagline is certainly desirable, but not mandatory. Take a look at the tagline in the header of this blog – mine is actually quite long. Different themes will provide varied layouts and placements. Some show the tagline as one long line, others may split long slogans over several short lines of text.

Experiment with your site. See how the tagline is presented. Make it crisps and fitting to the theme and topics of your posts. Maybe a short paragraph is the best way to display your motto.

Click the Save Changes button – you may have to scroll down – to replace the default text. Remember, you can come back any time and change it to something else, even a short poem.

WordPress categories can be managed best from the WordPress Dashboard. In Live Writer, categories can be added or removed from existing or new posts and new categories can be added. Here is how:

Open the post in Windows Live Writer – it can be a draft, a recent post, or even an older post. Live Writer always downloads a published post from your site even when you open it from your “My Weblog Posts” folder.

The assigned category or categories show in the bar right above the post text pane.

Click anywhere in that text box to open the category window.

Just set the the check marks for the categories – click the box in front of the listing to set or unset.

If you wish to add a new category, enter the category name in the box below “Add Category”. Then click the Add button. The category will be added to your post and when the post is published become part of your blogs categories.

Note that categories can be arranged in hierarchical form. That is, a category can be a sub-category of another. Just specify the “parent” category in the drop-down menu next to the Add button.

Click Publish to send the post and the changes to your site.

So, categories can be managed in Live Writer with the exception that a category cannot be removed. That you do have to do in your WordPress Dashboard.

The category and tag links on WordPress blog posts provide a quick way for readers to find related articles. More than one category can be shown on a post. If you posted with a category that you later decide is not appropriate, is is easily removed or changed.

Sign in to your WordPress Dashboard. On the left find the Posts link. Click on it to expand the menu. Click on the next Posts link. This will bring up a page listing your posts. Move the pointer to just below the title of the post you wish to modify. This makes several option links visible. Click the Edit link.

The Edit Post page comes up with that post loaded. Over on the right side, you may have to scroll down a bit, find the Categories listings.

Note that the currently assigned categories show a check mark in the box in front of the category name.

To add a category just click the box or category name you wish to add.

Similarly, click on an already checked category to uncheck it.

Click the Update button. Now only the checked categories will show for that post.

You can even add a new category right on this page. There is an Add New Category link right below the categories listing.

WordPress posts are identified with categories and tags to make it easier for readers to find related information. These labels are shown above or below posts and can be shown in sidebar “widgets”. The default category is “Uncategorized”.

A default category, the one used if you do not make a specific assignment, is required, but it need not be named “Uncategorized”. You can change it to another term. I use “General”.

Here is how to change the category name

Open your WordPress Dashboard. On the left click Posts to expand that menu. Click Categories. The categories are shown in a pane on the right.

Find the Uncategorized listing in the table. Option links become visible when you move pointer to just below the category name. Click Edit.

On the Edit Category page you can change the name of the category. Edit out the current name and type in the term you prefer.

Click the Update button.

You are done.

In all places where the term Uncategorized used to appear, the new term will now be displayed.